This band booked a 2-night run at Fresno’s Save Mart Center. It’s in rare company

In mid-September, Fuerza Regida announced it would add a second Fresno date on the upcoming leg of its This is Our Dream tour.

It was a case of “overwhelming demand,” according to the media alert.

The news went under the radar a bit, considering this was just the third time a musical act had booked consecutive nights at the arena and the first for a Spanish-language act.

The Regional Mexican superstars finished off a national stadium tour in early August, selling out nine venues including LA’s Dodger Stadium, Allegiant Stadium is Las Vegas and Citi Field in New York. They are embarking on a run of concerts at smaller arenas and amphitheaters in 10 cities through October. That includes a two-night run, Oct. 27 and 28 at the Save Mart Center.

It’s not uncommon for an event to run multiple days of programming at the arena; think the Monster Jam or Professional Bull Riders league or Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey circus. But among the decades worth of A-list musicians who’ve played Save Mart Center, it’s a rare few (just two, really) who have booked multi-night runs.

Not since Madonna, Garth Brooks

Madonna did it first, with a pair of shows in 2006; the same year she made her debut at Coachella. The shows sold out in minutes, back when people waited in actual lines and not a Ticketmaster cue. They had what was, at the time, the arena’s most-expensive ticket prices ($56.75 for the cheap seats).

Of course, Garth Brooks had already set a kind of precedent, having played five nights at the Selland Arena in 1997. He did four-shows at Save Mart Center 2016, on a back-to-back-to-back run that included two Saturday night performances. The draw was reported at “considerably in excess of 50,000,” by Brook’s publicity team at the time.

Fuerza Regida could draw around 21,000 with two sold-out shows, according the arena’s marketing manager David Abenojar.

A movement of Regional Mexican music

That kind of draw should come as no surprise.

Regional Mexican music in all its genre configurations (Tejano, Norteño, banda and the corridos tumbados that are currently all the rage) has seen a massive surge in popularity, post-pandemic. That echoes a trend for Spanish language and Latin music more broadly that’s been happening since at least 2017 (and the release of the global hit “Despacito”).

Fresno has a history of supporting regional Mexican and Latin artists that goes back decades to bailes hosted at the Fresno Convention Center and Rainbow Ballroom. It’s one of the reasons the city got added to Shakira’s record-breaking stadium tour last year.

And while Fuerza Regida is the first in its genre to book consecutive nights at the arena, others came close.

Colombia singer Karol G did so well with ticket sales on the announcement of her Strip Love tour in 2022 that promoters considered extending her run at the arena. “We were one of four markets in the country that they were considering rolling to a second show,” a former director of booking told The Fresno Bee last year.

Same, same with the Mexican pop group RBD, whose Soy Rebelde reunion tour stopped at the Save Mart Center in 2023. The arena didn’t have a second-date available, “so we couldn’t get that one done,” he told The Bee.

Tickets for both nights of Fuerza Regida’s This is Our Dream tour are on sale now and a quick look at Ticketmaster.com shows seats are still readily available throughout the arena.

Other concert announcements in Fresno

Here is a non-comprehensive list of other recent concerts announced at Fresno area venues.

• Gym Class Heroes and Lupe Fiasco, Back to Basics tour, 8 p.m. Oct. 2, Tachi Palace, Lemoore. Tickets are: $34.96-$107.20.
• Handsome Dick Manitoba, 7:30 p.m., Oct. 9, Fulton 55. Tickets are: $26.95.
• Souls of Mischief, 8 p.m., Oct. 21, Fulton 55. Tickets are: $26, plus fees.
• KC and the Sunshine Band, 8 p.m. Nov. 14, Table Mountain Casino. Tickets are $51-$61.
• The Acordeones Y Corridos tour, 7 p.m. Nov. 21, Save Mart Center. Tickets are: $64-$136.
• Deap Valley, celebrating 10 Years of FEMEJISM, 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1, Strummer’s. Tickets are: $20, plus fees.
• Circle Jerks + “Repo Man” screening ans QnA, 7 p.m. Dec. 8, Tower Theatre. Tickets are: $26-$55.
• Tom Segura, 8 p.m., Feb. 11, Saroyan Theatre. Tickets are on sale 10 a.m. Friday.